It was impossible to tell which occurred more: the amount of times Daniel Hackett shook his head or the amount of times “I don’t know” slipped from his lips.

About the only suggestion USC’s junior guard could offer after No. 15 UCLA’s 76-60 victory at Pauley Pavilion was to get back on the court. And maybe never leave.

“We looked bad out there, plain and simple,” Hackett said. “We’ll figure it out in practice. I guess three hours isn’t enough. We’ve got to go five hours a day.”

Another question, and the repetition came through like USC’s 23 turnovers.

“I have no clue,” Hackett began. “I have no idea. I have no idea. I have no idea why we came out so flat, I have no idea.

“Don’t ask me, because I have no answer for you guys. I really don’t know what to tell you guys.”

The pain went well beyond the grisly dislocation of the pinky on forward Taj Gibson’s right hand.

Never allowed to run an offense, USC’s frustration grew in an increasing crescendo of forced shots, offensive fouls and bailout timeouts.

The other end of the court? Well, did someone erase Nikola Dragovic’s image from the Jan.11 game videotape? All Dragovic did was open the game with four 3-pointers in four tries.

Actually, UCLA merely exposed USC’s thin squad as one that has little margin for error. And to think it was actually last week when the Trojans’ two most important players, Gibson (pneumonia) and Hackett (flu), were ailing.

And when there are 23 turnovers to overcome, forget it.

“They forced us into turnovers we have not made the last six games,” USC coach Tim Floyd said. “Their defense was outstanding. I thought it led to easy baskets and we were very poor in defensive transition.

“We did not duplicate their defense in preparation for this game. Their defense exceeded what we played against in practice. As a result, we struggled.

“It’s disappointing because we have guys who have been in this gym.”

In the aftermath, it was hard to believe that USC (15-7, 6-4) would have caught UCLA (18-4, 8-2) in the Pacific-10 Conference standings with a victory.

If the game was not over before halftime, USC’s fate was sealed only 1:10 into the second half after Gibson’s finger got the worst of a collision with UCLA’s Jrue Holiday. He was promptly taken to the locker room for further evaluation.

He will have an X-ray today to determine if the dislocation was accompanied by a broken bone.

“I’d rather play again tomorrow, even if we’re hurt, but it doesn’t work that way,” said Gibson, who had a season-low two points.

“We’ve got a whole week to recuperate, watch film and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Gibson returned to the bench, but only to sit and watch with his hand encased in ice. Nothing could have been more emblematic of the evening for the cold-shooting Trojans.

Guard Dwight Lewis scored 20 points to lead USC, but he had to muddle through six turnovers. DeMar DeRozan had 15 points and eight rebounds and was clearly the most solid Trojan on the floor.

Midway through the second half, Gibson was back on the court with his injured finger taped to his ring finger.

He got in just in time to see Hackett foul out with two points. Hackett entered the game second in the Pac-10 in minutes played at 38.8 per game, but lasted only 23 minutes.

Starting forward Leonard Washington, a rebounding specialist, wasn’t on the floor to start the second half. Keith Wilkinson took over the role after Washington, a freshman, had no rebounds in the first half.

He also missed both shots he tried – one a 3-pointer and the other just inside the 3-point line.

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